The Taste of Black

What better way to celebrate that most American of inventions, Black Friday, than with a black cookbook.

Björn Lindberg had an idea to take photos of black food.  He loved color; he loved food so why not combine the two.  But he needed a partner in crime, so he explained his idea to Jonas Borssén.  Borssén began developing recipes and Lindberg photographed them.  In 1997 they published The Taste of Black.  It is the artistic of food porn.  

Now, I do love black food, but I must confess that most of "black" creations come from my love of charcoal as an ingredient.  There is no charcoal in these recipes, no dyes, no inedible combos of squid and bananas (though there are recipes for squid and also a banana chutney) so don't be tempted to dismiss this book are an aberration.  The recipes are solid and reasonably easy to add to your cooking repertoire.  Some are very familiar like this one.

Black Bean Soup

1 1/4 cup black beans, soaked overnight
1-2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3-4 sticks of celery, finely chopped
1/2 lb. spicy sausage, thinly sliced
1-2 tablespoons jalapeño, finely chopped 1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon oregano or savory
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil

Begin by lightly frying the vegetables and sausage in a large casserole with a little oil. Drain the soaked beans and add them with the stock to the pot. Bring to a boil and skim thoroughly. Add all the spices except the oregano. Cover and simmer for 40-50 minutes or until the beans are completely soft. Add the oregano, salt and black pepper to taste. Serve in deep soup plates.

Once you see Lindberg's photographs of the food, you will never look at plating the same way again.   The utilitarian black bean soup has never been more radiant.  So enjoy your black Friday.

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The Complete Western Cookbook

The early 1960's brought us The Complete Western Cookbook by Betty Johnson. With the current fascination for regional cooking, I must say there is not a whole lot in this cookbook that would scream out, "This is the land beyond the Pecos." 

what this may indicate is a land beyond proper cookbook editors.  The book has a really funny layout.  It starts with curry and New Mexico dishes.  One of those seems a bit out of place.  It is followed by game poultry and barbecue.  Then we move into a huge section of desserts: cookies, cakes, pies, frosting, frozen desserts, and candies.  It is an odd jump to go from venison and barbecued chicken to Lane cake in a few pages. 

Then we move into appetizers, pastas, sandwiches and "Oriental" dishes. then we move into a fairy common list of eggs, soups, salads, sauces, meats and vegetables.

I must say, with the exception of the Mexican and Oriental dishes, the book could well have been titled, The Complete Southern Cookbook.  It seems Mrs. Johnson hails from Alabama and given that the book has at least 4 fried chicken recipes, more cornbread and pone and spoon bread than most, not to mention Lane cake, deviled eggs, ribs, and gumbo, it reads far more Southern than Western to me.

I was actually struck by how many good recipes there were in this book.  But, as we often find with books of this age, the recipes are kind of limited in the level of  direction one receives to actually cook the dishes.

I have a fondness for lima beans.  Yes, those little green ones are fine, but I am especially drawn to the large, white, dried lima beans.  This recipe offered a different twist on my usual white limas.

Creole Lima Chowder

1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon fat
1 cup sliced carrots
8 small onions, quartered
4 cups boiling water
2 cups diced celery
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic slat
2 cups cooked large dry limas

Saute beef in fat until evenly browned,  Add balance of ingredients. Cover simmer over low heat for thirty minutes until vegetables are done.  Remove cover and continue cooking 15 minutes.

I don't get why this recipe is "creole."  And while it sounds pretty simple, it seems to me there might be a lot to wrong in those instructions.  Starting with the soaking and cooking of the lima beans.  But you get the idea.

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CROCK POT SPICY PORK AND PINTO's

This recipe is a real crowd pleaser. Fork-tender pork tenderloin with pinto beans, spicy gravy and it all cooks together in the crock pot!! The first night, I like to serve this over rice, but it is equally as tasty stuffed into warm flour tortillas, or over a bed of tortilla chips and smothered with cheese; it also has ENDLESS leftover possibilities (which is a very good thing)!!

I like to use a 2 pound pork tenderloin, because it is nice and lean, but any 2-3 pound pork roast will work.  My crock pot is a big one and it tends to run a little hot, so this pork is fall apart tender (for me) in 6 hours ON THE LOW SETTING. Depending on your crock pot, it could take as many as 8 hours on low, but that is unlikely, just start checking for tenderness at 6 hours.

2 pounds (roughly) pork tenderloin
1 1/2 cups DRY PINTO beans (rinse, but DO NOT soak)
(1) 4 ounce can of mild green chilies (I use Ortega)
3 teaspoons chili powder (see note)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup chopped sweet onion
healthy pinch of dry red pepper flakes (optional see note)

Brown the pork well and put it in the crock pot. Saute the onions and garlic in the same pan and then mix them with the DRY beans, spices, canned chilies then pour over the meat. Add just enough water to mostly cover the beans and meat, it should look like this:

Make sure the liquid gets under the meat as well. After cooking on low for a few hours, check the liquid level in the crock pot and add a little more water if necessary, but not TOO much. THIS BROTH MAKES THE BEST-BEST-BEST RED GRAVY!!
 

Take the meat out of the crock pot after 5-6 hours or when it gets fork tender  (remove any fatty pieces and bones) and pull it apart. Thicken the liquid in the crock pot with a cornstarch and water slurry, then put meat back in with the beans and gravy. 
 

 

 

 

VARIATION: The beans in this recipe make OVER THE TOP delicious re-fried beans. Just fish out the beans and put them in the food processor with a little bit of the liquid. You'll never buy canned refried beans again!!

NOTE: A word about the heat or spice in this recipe. My hubby doesn't like very much (hates) "heat" in his food. He likes strong flavors, he just doesn't like "fire" as he calls it. I use a very small pinch of dry red pepper flakes when I make this for him. If you like a little more "fire", just up the dry red pepper flake ingredient.

NOTE: If I'm making this for children, I back off the chili powder to 2 teaspoons and omit the chili flakes.

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Heirloom Beans

We love beans. The South is full of cool beans you can't seem to find anywhere, pink eyes, lady peas, purple hull, crowder peas, the list goes on. When most people think of Southern, they think of black-eyed peas. When they think Southwestern, they thing black or pinto. Come on people lets add some variety!

But you might be thinking, "Cookbook Of The Day, where can I find such variety?" Try searching about your grocery store, we might say. (Several weeks ago, I wanted to make my favorite baked beans with figs and searched around my grocery store. The navy beans I bought were soaked 12 hours and cooked for about that long and were still HARD!!! This sometimes happens, so as a warning, if you find a dusty bag of beans on a back shelf and you think, "Hey, I've never seen these before. ", be forewarned that even dried beans can go -- bad. But I digress...).

Want to find lovely beans on the internet or in your more discerning grocery, look no further than Rancho Gordo. The folks at Rancho Gordo will send you out a package or great heirloom beans in no time. They have a flat shipping rate of $8, so buy several bags and experiment. They even have sampler sets for you to try.

They even have a cookbook, cleverly entitled, Heirloom Beans, written by Rancho Gordo's uber-seed-saver, Steve Sando, and Vanessa Barrinton. They offer up some unusual and usual bean dishes. Don't be alarmed, they give you a rather generic substitute if you have not received your heirlooms from Steve.

Here's a recipe using tepary beans.



They are sweet beans and look a bit like a pinto, which can be substitute in this recipe but, then it would just be plain old pinto bean dip and you would have failed in your mission to step outside you boring comfort zone.

Spicy Tepary Bean Dip

1 1/2 cups drained, cooked tepary beans
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 poblano chili, roasted
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds, roasted and ground
1 chipotle chile in adobo
salt and freshly ground pepper

In a food processor, combine beans, garlic, olive oil, poblano chile, cumin, chipotle chile, salt and pepper to taste. Process until smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. You will have about 2 cups. Serve at room temperature.

Please give it a try.

***Two things:

1. In checking to see if my link was working, I found that Rancho Gordo doesn't have tepary beans in stock right now.

2. Since the new blogging rules say we must have full disclosure, I just want to say I have received NOTHING for Rancho Gordo, not a book a bean or a T-shirt. I am truly sad about this!

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